It's the time of year when we typically reflect on the past and make predictions for what the New Year may hold.

In terms of estimating the severity of the nasty tricks we can expect from online scammers in 2008, a good starting point is to understand how the malware economy itself has evolved into the sophisticated business that it is today.

We'd like to call your attention to an interesting article on ZDNet, "Cracking Open the Cyber Crime Economy,"  which provides a look at the steady development of the cyber crime industry, and an indication of what is needed to deter its growth in the future.